Joan Bohls, Kent Bohls, and Erik Svenkerud visited us from the Rotary E-club of Central Texas and told us about the Rotary Global Grant project that they are spearheading in their club.  The proposed grant is being coordinated with the Rotary Club of Sinkor, Liberia and is for an oxygen refilling plant for rural health facilities.  It is an $152,000 project and District 5870 is contributing $55,000 to the project from district funds. The Rotary Foundation will match that up to 80 percent. Other area Rotary clubs are also contributing.  There is a six-month time frame for the project once grant is approved.  Kent and Erik explained how this project came to fruition.  Erik had been a doctor in Liberia decades ago, and one of his nurses from that time recently contacted him.  Also, the E-Club has members around the U.S and three of their distance members are from Liberia. These connections have led to a unique relationship with Liberia and the idea for this global grant project. The need for this project stems from the history of Liberia, and our speakers told us about some of that history, including how the country was originally formed by freed slaves from the U.S.  More recently, the country struggled with a civil war that lasted several decades.  The documentary “Pray the Devil Back Hell” tells some of that story including how the women in the country came together to pray for peace and put pressure on peace treaty being signed.  In 2011, two of these women were awarded Nobel Peace Prize.  During the long civil war, the country lost a lot of infrastructure including hospitals and roads.  One major problem is the lack of available oxygen for medical clinics and hospitals, particularly in rural areas. This has caused the infant and maternal mortality rates to be very high compared to other countries, as oxygen is essential for care of infants and mothers.  This project will help alleviate the lack of oxygen for clinics in rural areas.  The E-Club is appreciative of our club’s willingness to partner with them on this project, and we will be raising funds in January to contribute to the project

     One of the challenges of an E-Club and of the pandemic is building better friendships.  So the goal of Rotarian of the Month is to know each other better.   When you are named please forward me a picture and lots of information about you- like where you grew up, family, schools, career, hobbies, Rotary service.  We want to get to know each other.  We would also like for you to do a "classification talk" at our monthly zoom meeting.  Let's keep working towards getting to know each other better.